Sweeter Than Chocolate
by mewtwofangirl
Summary: When Sachiko Yagami's parents die in a car crash, she must live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. But both she and Light have secrets that could force them to pose a threat to one another. And what happens when Sachiko seems to fall for Ryuzaki?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Sachiko Yagami**

(Sachiko's PoV)

The last sounds I heard when it happened were the truck driver honking his horn, and both he and my dad slamming on their breaks and trying to swerve to miss each other. But...they didn't see each other in time and…I woke up in a hospital bed. My long golden brown hair was sprawled over my shoulders and as I moved to sit up, I found it a bit of a challenge. When the nurse came in, I asked her where my mother and father were. She turned to me, a sad, pitying look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Miss Yagami, but...your parents didn't survive the collision with that semi. If you hadn't been in the back seat...I'm afraid you would have died as well. " She informed me gravely. My body went numb as I looked down at my hands resting in my lap.

"…I see." Was all I could manage to get out.

"…I'm going to go give the doctor your vitals chart and tell your cousin Light that you're awake." The nurse said. I merely nodded as she left the room. A few moments later, Light came bursting in, accompanied by a girl with blonde hair and a guy with messy black hair and VERY tired looking eyes. (as in the ultimate insomnia circles) and he wore a pair of baggy jeans and a white long sleeved shirt. If I wasn't so upset about the death of my parents, I probably would have been flirting with him; he was pretty handsome. Light sat in the chair next to my bed.

"Sachiko….thank goodness you're alright." He said, hugging me. I returned the hug, fighting back tears. The girl tapped me on the shoulder. When Light released me, the girl hugged me, too. Even though I didn't know her, I was a huggy person by nature, and this just made my need for human contact stronger. I hugged her back, almost as tightly as I'd hugged my cousin.

"My name is Misa Amane, I'm Light's girlfriend. Sachiko-chan, I'm SO sorry about your parents." She said. I only nodded. I knew if I spoke, I would just start crying, and it was hard enough to hold back my tears as it was. When she released me, the dark haired guy put a hand on my head affectionately.

"Rue Ryuzaki. You can just call me Ryozaki. I suppose you could call me a friend of Light's. You have my condolences as well, Sachiko-chan."

"Arigato, Misa-san, Ryuzaki-kun." I said, voice cracking.

"_Sachiko, Light is your cousin. And even though you don't know Ryozaki or Misa, I think the situation allows you to cry in front of them. If you hold back your emotions now, you'll only regret it later._" Without glancing at the Shinigami beside me, I stopped holding back my tears and just let them fall.

(Yuma's PoV)

I watched Sachiko sob as Light and Misa held her in attempt to comfort her. I felt so sorry for her, and…not being the best Shinigami, I don't always know when someone's going to die, otherwise…I would have gladly sacrificed myself to prevent Sachiko from losing her parents. I glared at the other two Shinigami across from me.

"Well…if it isn't Rem and Ryuk. What are you two doing here?" I asked. Ryuk just gave one of his annoying chuckles.

"And what about you, kid? A little young to be out of the Shinigami world, aren't you?" he remarked. I glared at him.

"Yuma….I noticed you don't have your Death Note. Does that girl have it?" Rem asked. I nodded at her.

"I purposely dropped it here. No offense, but you guys…and the other Shinigami aren't exactly my idea of conversational companions. Sachiko is my friend. And I'm sure you'll be surprised to find this out, but she hasn't once used the death note. Well, now that you know loneliness was MY reason for being here, I'll ask you again, why are YOU here?" Ryuk laughed.

"What? You haven't heard of the Kira murders?" I froze and my head shot towards Light, Misa, and Ryuzaki. I started to ponder which of them could be behind the Kira murders. Since both Rem and Ryuk were BOTH here, and a Shinigami that drops their Death Note usually follows the human who picks it up, it obviously had to be two out of three. First there was Ryuzaki. Granted he wasn't who he said he was, but that didn't make him Kira. (I could see his real name; Shinigami eyes were special that way) Then there was Misa Amane. She didn't SEEM like a killing sort, and neither did Light. But….Sachiko didn't seem like the type to have the secrets that SHE had, either. But…no, I was certain it wasn't Ryuzaku. Sad really when the most suspicious LOOKING person is the least harmful one in the room. I glared at Rem and Ryuk.

"Get out of here. And take THOSE two with you. I don't want you OR them anywhere near Sachiko." I said coldly, pointing at Light and Misa. When the other three humans weren't paying attention, Sachiko gave me a questioning look.

"I'll explain everything later." I told her softly. It wasn't long after that, that the nurse came in and told the humans that visiting hours were over for the day. They seemed reluctant to leave, but before Rem and Ryuk left, I said,

"Don't you DARE tell Light and Misa about Sachiko's Death Note." They didn't say anything as they left.

(Sachiko's PoV)

When Yuma and I were alone, I sighed and laid back down.

"Who were you speaking to so coldly before?" I asked. He sighed and ran his fingers through his messy black and light green hair.

"….Rem and Ryuk. They're Shinigami like me. Sachiko….I don't know how to say this, but-" I didn't let him finish. He didn't need to.

"Light and his girlfriend each have a death note. I know. I saw them in their bags. And Ryuzaki…well…he's cute but he seems to be hiding something too. I'm going to call you-know-who and ask if I need to keep an eye on the three of them. Two people with death notes are DEFINITLY suspicious." I said quietly, sitting back up and taking my cell phone off of the bedside table.

"You think one of them is Kira?" he asked. I hesitated as I placed my thumb on the Call button. After a moment, I nodded.

"It should be obvious. They ARE Kira and the second Kira. They HAVE to be. A death note is the only way I can see that someone could kill another person by just knowing their name. Light and I used to be SO close, but…this is the right thing to do." I said. Despite my words, about an hour and a half passed before I finally got around to calling the person I mentioned earlier.

"_**Miss Yagami, I'm glad you contacted me. I heard about what happened. Are you alright?**_" At the sound of the computerized voice, I felt a wave of comfort wash over me. It had been almost a month since I had heard it.

"I've got two bruised ribs, a sprained ankle, and a broken arm, but other than that, only cuts and scrapes. As for…hearing that my parents didn't survive…well…it hurts now, but the pain will subside. L, there's a reason I called. It's about the Kira case. You're working on it, right? Well…there's someone I met today that I was wondering…if you wanted me to keep an eye on."

"_**Who is it? I'll look up as much information as I can on them and get back to you on it.**_" L replied.

"…He said his name is Ryuzaki. Rue Ryuzaki. He was hanging out with my cousin Light and his girlfriend Misa Amane." I said.

"_**I see. And what did he look like?**__" _

"Let's see….he had messy looking black hair and onyx eyes. He was wearing a pair of denim jeans and a white long sleeved shirt. No matter what he's doing, he's slouched, and he was really pale…pretty handsome actually…at least in my opinion, but… he looked so tired. If I wasn't so upset about losing my parents, odds are I would have tried to ask him out." I said, giving a slightly sad laugh.

"_**...**_" There was silence on the other end, and I started to worry.

"L?" I asked hesitantly.

"…._**Alright I've looked into this Ryuzaki person and you have nothing to worry about as far as I can tell, but if you like, you can look into him more yourself; your cousin and Miss Amane as well, if you feel it necessary.**_" He said. I exhaled.

"Okay. Great. And L?"

"_**Yes?**_" I was hesitant for a moment. Would he tell me no if I asked him to… let me help him with the Kira case? Well…only one way to find out, right?

"L…I was wondering…if I could help you with the Kira case?" Silence, then,

"_**I'm afraid our conversation must be cut short for the evening. I'll contact you again in the near future. Please wait until then to hear from me. You have my condolences for the loss of your mother and father. Get some rest, Miss Yagami. Good night.**_" I sighed as L hung up on me. Was it because of what happened last time that he wouldn't give me an answer right away? Oh! Oops! Guess I better explain why I was even talking to L in the first place, right? Well, it had all started when I was fourteen. (I am now sixteen) I was a prodigy I guess ( that's what my mother called me), and I was already in my last year of high school then. I wanted to wait to go to college until I could attend with Light. I was a couple years younger than he was, and we both wanted to study the same major: Law Enforcement. One day, about a week after my fourteenth birthday, L himself contacted me and asked me if I would use my puzzle solving skills to help him solve a case. L was the whole reason I wanted to get into the Law Enforcement track, so naturally I agreed to help him. Soon, one case turned into two, then three, and so on. I think I helped him a little bit with solving at least twenty murder cases in the past two years. Not much, I know. But he only needed me those times. In the two years he and I more or less worked together, I never met L face to face, though that was my birthday wish each year since I'd heard of all the good he'd done in the world. One night, last summer, during one of the cases I was helping L with, something happened. I was taking a look around the cemetery trying to find evidence that would throw yet another wanted killer, known only as "Grave Digger" in prison. The man that was behind the killings caught me there and threw me into a coffin. He buried me alive. I was so terrified that I didn't know what to do other than cry. Yuma wasn't there, or he could have written the killer's name in our death note and been done with it. But…he'd gone back to the Shinigami world temporarily. Lucky for me, the case before that was officially the two year anniversary of my helping L from time to time. And for some reason, L sent me a locket with the first letter of my name engraved in English on the front, and the phrase "_Justice Will Prevail_" on the back. I was wearing it, and little did I know, L had put a communication device inside the necklace; along with a tracker. He heard me crying and contacted me immediately.

"_Miss Yagami? Miss Yagami, are you there?" _he asked. I was shocked, but I'd managed to wipe away my tears and speak.

"_L? L, is that you? How are you speaking to me?_" I asked. That was when he told me about the necklace. (Now, my parents knew from day one that I'd been helping L, but they never found out about the graveyard incident….luckily.) He asked me where I was, and I told him about my predicament. He told me not to panic, and that I had to stop talking to avoid running out of air. He would have stopped talking to me then, but I was so scared that I couldn't handle breaking contact with him. I begged him not to go; to stay and talk to me, even if I couldn't say anything back. L was nice enough to keep talking to me for the half hour it took for an FBI agent he'd asked for help to catch the killer called "Grave Digger", as well as dig me up and get me out of the coffin. The agent introduced herself as Naomi Misora and asked me if I was alright. I told her I was, and thanked her for saving my life. I never saw her again after that, but nonetheless I was pretty sad when I found out she'd been killed by Kira not too long ago. She seemed so nice. Even though I got over the graveyard incident after a week or so, L hadn't asked me for help on a single case since that night. Was it because I made it seem like I couldn't keep calm in a state of emergency? I shook my head and laid back down in the bed. I wanted to prove to L that I had a greater ability to control my emotions than he thought, and I COULD help him catch Kira.

**-the next day…-**

Yuma cocked his head to the side in confusion as he looked out the window.

"What the hell….? I wonder what he wants?" he said. I looked up from the book I was reading.

"What is it?" I asked. He turned to me.

"Ryuzaki just walked into the hospital. He had a bouquet of flowers and what looked like a box of cake. Wonder why?" he said. I shrugged.

"Maybe he's here to see a relative." I said. Yuma sighed.

"Well, whatever. Hey, I'm going to go talk to Ryuk and Rem and see what I can get out of them. Will…will you be okay by yourself?" I sighed at his hesitance.

"I'll be fine, Yuma. It's a hospital. This isn't my favorite place in the world, but there's not a lot here that I need to be afraid of. Go ahead." I said, giving him a slight smile. He nodded and disappeared. Not long after that, someone knocked on the door of my room. I put a bookmark in my book and closed it.

"Come in." I said. I then blushed slightly as Ryuzaki entered and closed the door.

"Good morning, Sachiko-chan. How are you holding up?" he asked. I looked away so he couldn't see the crimson hue on my face.

"Well…I'm doing a little better, I suppose. The shock has worn off, but I'm still upset about losing my parents. That's something that I don't think will ever go away. So uhm…what brings you here? And…what's up with the cake and flowers?" I asked. Ryuzaki set the cake down on the side table and put the flowers in a vase full of water. He then took a knife, two plates, and two forks out of a shoulder bag I just noticed that he was carrying.

"I hope you like strawberry and chocolate cake, Sachiko-chan. Light and Misa are busy this morning, but I had some free time and I wanted to come cheer you up. Light told me you liked orchids, and white roses, so that's what I brought for you. …Forgive me for saying so if I'm out of line, but you seem that though you're in a slightly better mood, something still weighs on your mind…other than the death of your parents." I was slightly startled by Ryuzaki's observation, but nonetheless, I decided to try and tell him what was wrong…without telling him that I more or less knew L.

"Well…a…um…I don't know if I could call him a friend or not, but let's go with that for now. A friend of mine has trusted me with some important errands over the past couple years, and…on the last one I did, something happened and I almost got hurt. And…since then, this friend of mine hasn't asked me for any more favors, and that bothers me because I feel like he doesn't trust me to carry them out due to that one incident. And there's something really important he has to do now, and…when I offered to help him last night when I called him, he….avoided the subject completely and hung up." I said. Close enough to the truth without details, right? Ryuzaki thought a moment then said,

"Maybe this friend of yours is just afraid you'll get hurt. Perhaps he cares deeply for you and wants to keep you safe, and this special task you say he needs to take care of could get you seriously hurt, if not worse." He said, ruffling my hair affectionately. I scoffed in embarrassment and looked away.

"Wh-wha…? R-Ryuzaki-kun, if you knew who my… err…"friend" is, you wouldn't be saying that. I mean, like I said, he and I aren't really…that close to be honest. We're more like acquaintances than anything. I just agreed to do the favors I did for him because I enjoyed it." I said. Ryuzaki looked down at the locket I was wearing.

"That's an interesting necklace. Sterling silver with a 2 karat gold chain, am I right?" I looked down and nodded.

"May I see it?" I shrugged and took it off, handing it to Ryuzaki. If it had been anyone else, even Light, I would have said no. This necklace was my most prized possession. But for some reason, I trusted this guy. He read the back out loud.

"Justice will prevail…interesting. Do you believe that, Sachiko-chan?" He asked, handing it back to me. I slipped the necklace back around my neck.

"Of course I do. And….I just know L will catch Kira. And…what are you doing now?" Ryuzaki looked up from placing a few candles in the cake and lighting them.

"Light told me that today was your birthday, and to go ahead and celebrate without them." I sighed.

"So basically, Light told you to babysit me until he and his girlfriend got here?" I asked as he held the cake out to me.

"That's an awfully bleak way to look at it, but I suppose if you want to see it that way, you can. Now make a wish." He said. I sighed. May as well go with it for now, I guess. Smiling slightly, I blew out the candles without a moment's hesitation. Ryuzaki smiled at me and raised an eyebrow.

"That was awfully quick. Did you even make a wish?" he asked. I nodded.

"Of course. I've made the same wish for quite a few years now, and I'm going to keep making that wish until it comes true." I replied. The two of us alone wound up eating the whole cake gradually, and for a while, we talked about random things. But around two in the afternoon…

"So…tell me Sachiko-chan, what did you wish for when you blew out your candles?" I frowned and crossed my arms.

"What, you've never heard that you're not supposed to tell other people your birthday wishes, or they won't come true?" I responded. Ryuzaki sat in the chair in his odd (but cute, in my opinion) way, and argued back with,

"I'm quite certain telling someone doesn't affect whether or not your wish comes true." I was going to make another argument, but he seemed to make a valid point, so I said,

"Don't tell anyone else this, but…the thing I've been wishing for most is to one day…meet L in person."

"L? Why L?" Ryuzaki asked curiously. I laid back and put my hands behind my head.

"Because L is my idol. It's because of L that I was inspired to go into Law Enforcement." I admitted casually.

"I see. Well, I just remembered there was something I have to do in a bit, so I should go. It was nice to get to know you a little better, Sachiko-chan. I'll visit you again a little later with Light and Misa. Happy birthday, by the way." He said, standing up.

"Thank you, Ryuzaki-kun. And yeah, this was nice. I look forward to your next visit. I don't know how but…you really cheered me up." I admitted.

"I'm glad to hear my efforts weren't in vain. Oh, and Sachiko-chan?"

"What is it?"

"…I have a feeling that your wish to meet L will come true someday. You just have to be a little patient." He said. Unsure what he meant by that, I just nodded as he left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Reaching a Decision**

(Yuma's PoV)

It had been three days since Ryuzaki came and spent the morning of Sachiko's birthday with her. I'd found out from Ryuk through bribary of apples that Light and Misa were indeed Kira and Kira 2, but I had my doubts about telling Sachiko that. She suspected them sure, but…to confirm that suspicion was something I wasn't sure I could do. And I also managed to find out that Ryuzaki was in fact L, but I decided I wasn't going to bring that up because it wasn't really my place to say. After much debate with my conscience, I decided the best thing to do was tell her the truth about Light.

"Sachiko?" Sachiko looked up from her portable game system.

"Yeah?" she asked. I exhaled. This was going to be harder than I thought…

"Well…uhm….there's something we need to talk about…." I began. She nodded for me to continue and I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Well…it's about Light and Misa…Light….he's…he's Kira. And Misa is…obviously, the second Kira. You were right in your suspicion. Though, I suppose each of them carrying a death note was a dead give away." I said. Sachiko sighed, a mixture of disappointment and annoyance with a hint of fear.

"Stupid Light… what was he thinking, picking up and USING a death note?" she grumbled. I crossed my arms and gave her a look of amusement.

"Need I remind you that you picked up MY death note?" I commented. She pouted.

"But until I got it home, I didn't KNOW it was a death note…and I didn't use it, even after you showed up." She argued. I nodded and threw two paper wads at her playfully. She picked them up and shoved them into her backpack. She would've thrown them away, but she was feeling too lazy to get up, which is good, because no one else needed to touch the pieces of paper I'd thrown at her.

"That's right, you didn't. …Sachiko, what do you want to do about this situation? There's a possibility Misa will kill you if I kill Light, REM will kill you if I kill Misa…and Light might kill you if he finds out you support L and are against Kira…especially if he finds out that you know he's Kira. And Ryuk…eh. If he were to kill you, it'd be for kicks, but I doubt it. Especially since he's a little afraid of you." Sachiko gave me a questioning look and I sighed. She'd be pretty peeved when I told her this, but it couldn't be helped.

"I told him that you had the Death Reaper Dagger. A legendary item that we Shinigami have all heard about, but none have ever seen. One of the few ways to kill a Shinigami." I confessed. Her reaction was pretty much as expected. She took her book from the bedside table and threw it at me. As I caught it and put it back, she got ready to start cursing at me, but stopped instantly and went back to her videogame when Light and Misa came in.

"Hey, sorry we're late. I had class and Misa wanted to wait for me." Light said. Misa nodded.

"Yeah, sorry. But hey, we have good news. The doctor said you could leave tomorrow. Awesome, right?" she said. I glared daggers at both of them. I didn't bother saying anything since I knew they couldn't see me anyway, but oh, if they could have….

(Sachiko's PoV)

I forced a smile.

"That is great. So, what've you guys been up to lately?" I asked casually. Light shrugged.

"Well, I've been studying and Misa's been doing her thing. Nothing unusual." He replied. I wanted to scoff and make some remark about what I knew about them, but I was smarter than that. As I spoke to Light and Misa I knew what I was going to do….I was going to find some solid proof that they were the killers. I just didn't know how, though.

"Hey, I'm going to go get us some food. Light, why don't you come along? I'll need help carrying everybody's." Misa said after a while. Light seemed to be inconvenienced by this a little, but he went along with her anyway. When they were gone, I looked to my right and gasped. Before me were two Shinigami…like Yuma. Which meant that… those two papers must've been from Light and Misa's death notes. I glared at the dark haired one, who I assumed was Ryuk.

"You bastard! How could you twist my cousin's sense of justice?" I growled. He just laughed.

"Trust me, brat, that kid was already screwed up before I came along. I just helped him vent it out." He said. Yuma had to keep me from taking a swing at that jerk.

"You…grr….you disgust me." I growled. He scoffed.

"Better watch it, brat. Light may have ONE of my death notes, but I've got another one." I glared at him.

"Go ahead, I dare you. You're all talk, bastard." I snapped. He reached for his death note, but Rem stopped him for some reason.

"Sachiko-chan…I assure you that Ryuk is a Shinigami you'd do best not to provoke." She told me gently. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Fine, fine…one last insult and then I'm done….now, I know what this dumbass' story is, but what about you, lady? How'd Misa get your death note?" I asked. When Rem was done explaining, I swung my legs over so they were hanging over the bed.

"I see. So…now she's helping Light, and you think of her as a good friend or something, huh? Alright…I'll make you a deal then. If you don't get in my way when I try to get Light brought to justice…OR kill me…OR let Misa find out what I'm doing and kill me….I'll make sure she doesn't get caught. Is that fair enough?" I asked. Rem nodded and Ryuk laughed once more.

"So you'd expose your own cousin to the people who want to catch him and put him to death for his actions…all for the name of justice? You humans are so much fun! Hahaha! I'm going to enjoy this!" he said. I sighed. Well….let the game begin, I suppose….

**(A/N: sorry this chapter was so short. Most of the chapters that follow should be longer though, I promise)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Talking **

(Sachiko's PoV)

Not long after I got out of the hospital, my first day of college started, and despite Yuma's insistence that stealing Light's death note and showing it to the police would be the easiest way to expose Light as Kira, I had to remind him that though it was the easiest, it was also the most dangerous. No, I had to think of another way.

"Sachiko-chan, here." I looked down at the three notebooks that Ryuzaki held out to me.

"What is it?" I asked, taking it.

"Well, I've noticed that three out of four of your classes are with Light and myself, so I compiled some detailed, yet brief notes of the lectures you missed in these notebooks for you so you could catch up." He said. I smiled up at him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Ryuzaki-kun. I really appreciate this. Hey, speaking of class, why don't we walk to our next one together?" I asked. Ryuzaki-kun smiled and nodded.

(Yuma's PoV)

I smiled as I watched Ryuzaki and Sachiko walk to class together. She wanted him to ask her out, I could tell. But now that I knew for sure that he was L…I couldn't help but wonder if he was only getting close to her to find out if Light was actually Kira. After all, somehow Light was one of L's prime suspects already. I narrowed my eyes and my grip tightened on the death note Sachiko and I shared. I had to find out for myself. She wouldn't appreciate me talking to Ryuzaki in the least, but I had no choice, For her sake, I had to make myself known to him. I mean, granted she would tell him if he asked…IF she knew he was L, but she didn't. In her eyes, he was simply the weird college guy that she was totally smitten for, and telling him that she was related to Kira would put him in danger. When classes were over for the day and Sachiko had already gone home (she was living with Light, his parents, and sister now.), I followed Ryuzaki back to where he was staying and casually dropped the death note onto the coffee table. It made a thud, and caught his attention. Sighing, he picked the death note up curiously and opened it.

"Hmm…wonder what…" he stopped speaking and dropped the death note back on the table when he saw me.

"We need to talk." I told him seriously.

"…Are you…a Shinigami?" I nodded.

"I am. But don't worry, I'm not here to kill you. My name is Yuma, and like I said, I only want to talk."

"About?"

"Sachiko. I know who you are, and I just want to say that SHE doesn't. And I'm warning you…Sachiko REALLY likes you, and if you're only trying to get close to her to find out if Light is Kira, there WILL be consequences…L." I said. Ryuzaki shook his head.

"I assure you, Yuma-san, though she is not sure whether or not to call it that, I consider her a friend as both Ryuzaki AND as L. And though I would like to find out what I can about Light, that is not the only reason I spend so much time with her." He said.

"Then what's the other reason?" I asked.

"…Honestly, I don't know how to put it into words. I suppose if I had to do so right away, though, I'd say that my reason for getting close to Sachiko-chan is that I'm curious; I want to know more about Sachiko-chan herself. Tell me…how is it YOU, a Shinigami knows and is so protective of Sachiko-chan?" he asked me. I looked out the window.

"I was sick of the other Shinigami in the Shinigami world, so I dropped my death note here in the human world and decided I wanted to become friends with the human who picked it up. This was back before you started asking her to help with some of your cases, but only just. As it so happened, she's the one who picked up the death note. Until she got it home….well actually, until I showed up, she didn't know it was a death note. To her, it was just an empty notebook. Needless to say she was a little scared at first, but it didn't take too long for me to assure her I wasn't going to kill her. The funny thing is…to this day, she hasn't once used the death note. But Kira….I believe that this is how Kira is killing people." I said. Ryuzaki opened the front cover and read the instructions on how to use the death note.

"…I see. So all we have to do is find someone with a death note that actually has writing in it, and we have Kira?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yes. And I'll even help you find Kira… for a price." This made Ryuzaki a little hesitant.

"…What kind of price, Yuma-san?" he asked cautiously. I turned back to face him.

"I want you to let Sachiko help you with this case, too. She feels as though you stopped asking for her help on these cases because of what happened in the cemetery. She thinks that you think she can't keep a calm head in an emergency and that you'd be better off without her to get in the way…or whatever." I said. Ryuzaki shook her head.

"I can't do that. Right now, one of my main suspects is Light, and if he or even Misa are indeed Kira or connected to Kira, who knows what they'd do to Sachiko. No, it's too risky for her." He said somewhat bluntly. I glared at him.

"Ryuzaki, I am a SHI-NI-GA-MI, remember? I can see people's real names, and with this death note, I can kill anyone who tries to harm Sachiko if I need to. She won't get hurt. The only reason she ended up in that situation isn't because you sent her to that graveyard, it's because I wasn't there to be her second pair of eyes. She did most of the work, but during most of those cases, I was there to help her out a little." I said insistently. Ryuzaki sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I suppose so. But…if things start looking like she'll be at risk, Sachiko is off the case again. Deal?" he asked. I nodded.

"Deal. See you tomorrow. Oh, and…don't tell Sachiko right away that you can see me or that you're L." I said, vanishing from the room.

(Sachiko's PoV)

I glared at Yuma in annoyance.

"Where the hell have YOU been?" I demanded. He smiled apologetically.

"Here and there, no where special. So, how goes the homework?" I glared at him in slight annoyance and sighed.

"I'm done with my homework." I told him. He was about to say something else, but my cell phone vibrated in my pocket, making me jump. The number itself was without a name, but I knew the number itself.

"Hello?"

"**_Miss Yagami, I apologize that it took so long to contact you again. I've given it some thought, and I have come to the conclusion that it would indeed be wisest to allow your assistance on the Kira case._**" I jumped up out of my computer chair excitedly.

"Thank you SO much, L. I swear I won't let you down this time."

"**_I have faith in you. So, have you found out any more about that Ryuzaki character?_**" L asked. I sighed.

"Well, I haven't discovered anything unusual or suspicious about him. He's really nice. Smart, too. Not to mention he's REALLY good at tennis….uhm….sorry. I'm probably boring you or keeping you from something important, aren't I?" I bit my bottom lip. L didn't want to hear about things like that! Baka!

"**_No, not at all._**" L replied.

"So uhm…have you found out anything that could help to catch Kira?" I asked.

"**_Actually, I have. Other than what you surly caught on the broadcast involving Lind L. Taylor, it was discovered that Kira is more than likely a college student._**" L replied.

"…I see. Well, that's sort of a helpful hint, I guess. But it doesn't give us much of a clue, although…"

*beep, beep*

I groaned in annoyance.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to conclude tonight's conversation, my cell phone battery is almost dead."

"**_I see. But before we say farewell for the night, may I ask you something Miss Yagami?_**" Slightly surprised, I looked over at Yuma; since he had excellent hearing. He only shrugged.

"Of course, anything." I said.

"**_How would you choose to describe our relationship? That is, to you, are we friends, or merely partners in Law Enforcement?_**" I nearly dropped the phone in surprise.

"Uhm….th-that uh….well….err…." I looked to Yuma for help. Sighing, he wrote something on my personal white board.

"_I'd like to describe us as friends, considering some of our conversations have included topics apart from cases, but it's a bit difficult to make such a statement when I've never even met you in person….let alone heard your real voice." _After reading this, I gave Yuma a look before repeating it to L; word for word. L gave a slight chuckle of amusement….which sounded kind of weird through a computerized voice, I'm not going to lie about it.

"**_Haven't you? I wonder. Well, I suppose we'll call it a night then. Sleep well, Miss Yagami._**"

"Hey wait a minute! L, what-" Too late, he hung up. I sighed in annoyance and hooked my phone to the charger.

"Cryptic bastard." I huffed, flopping down on my bed. Yuma laughed.

"Come on, you find it interesting and you know it." He said.

"…..Only a little." I replied. Yuma laughed and I threw a pillow at him.

"Ne, Sachiko." I sighed and turned to Ryuk.

"What?" I asked in annoyance.

"Light's gone and I want apples." He said. I groaned. This was an inconvenience of living in this house that I had forgotten about.

"…There's a bowl of apples over on my desk. Take it and go away." I said impatiently.

"Well, aren't we little miss sunshine." Ryuk said in mocking sarcasm. I glared at him.

"I still hate you. Go away." I said bluntly.

"You're no fun. Say, if you want to help L catch Light, why not just take the death note that Light has and give it to L?" Ryuk asked me. I sighed and told him what I told Yuma about it being too dangerous with Misa…and to an extent…Rem around. Even Light, who could possibly do something drastic if he knew that I knew he was Kira and was trying to turn him in. But something I kept to myself was….aside from all that, I was torn between my sense of true justice and my feelings as Light's cousin. I didn't want him to die, but at the same time, I knew it wasn't right that he kept killing people. I wanted him to stop, but I knew that if I confronted him about it, my pleas would fall on def ears.

"…Sachiko?" I glared up at the apple-addicted shinigami.

"Ryuk, I gave you apples, now go away." I said in irritation. Ryuk frowned, as if he wanted to say something, but he just shook his head and disappeared. Yuma sighed.

"Ryuk is a jerk, but you don't really have much reason to be so cold towards him. He can actually be a fun guy to be around once you get to know him." He said. I snorted.

"I have EVERY reason to be cold towards him, Yuma. It's because of HIM that this WHOLE Kira mess started!" I said bluntly. Yuma sighed.

"Alright, alright. Fair enough. Oh, by the way….uhm…a little something I found out from Rem earlier today...well, there's something about humans with a death note you should know about." I looked up at him curiously.

"What's wrong? How come you sound so nervous?" I asked. Yuma sighed.

"Rem told me that if a human accepts the deal and trades half their lifespan for the Shinigami eyes…they can tell another person who has a death note by the fact that they can see only the person's name, not their lifespan; like they can with regular people." He explained. I blinked.

"Okay, good to know, but…what does that have to do with-"

"Misa has the Shinigami eyes." Yuma blurted.

"….Well…crap." I groaned, rolling over onto my stomach on my bed. If Misa had the shinigami eyes, then she knew I had a death note, and if she knew that, it was certain she was going to tell Light. And if she told him about my death note…then…

"I wouldn't worry too much." I glared up at Ryuk.

"What are you doing back?" I asked briskly. He shrugged and popped an apple into his mouth.

"If you MUST know, I'm here to tell you that you don't have a lot to panic about as far as this whole shinigami eyes thing goes. Sure, Misa might tell Light, but I highly doubt he'll be stupid enough to confront you about it. Since Rem and I didn't say anything, he and Misa both think you don't know about us OR their death notes. They'd figure that if they confronted you, then you'd ask THEM in turn how they knew about YOUR death note in the first place. So in short, relax kid. You've more or less got one more card in your deck than they do. Not enough to give you all the aces, but enough to assure that you stay at least HALF a step ahead of them." He explained. I exhaled.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but….thanks for pointing that out to me Ryuk. I never would have taken that into consideration on my own." I said, smiling slightly. Ryuk shrugged again.

"Eh. I figured it was the least I could do since you gave me a whole bowl of apples. So…when're you gonna ask that Ryuzaki guy out?" Yuma laughed at Ryuk's bluntness, and my face turned crimson.

"Wh-what? Don't be absurd, Ryuk! Do you really think I have time to have a love life with Kira on the loose? B-besides, what would…L say…if….I brought such a distraction into my life?" I stammered. The two shinigami just laughed even harder. Then, Yuma said,

"Actually, Sachiko, I think…and I bet Ryuk here would agree…that if you want to keep KIRA off YOUR case, a boyfriend would be a good thing for you to have. If you don't want Light to find out that you're working with L, then you need to make it less obvious. He's known you your whole life, and he knows that though you're a prodigy, you're also a normal teenage girl, and he knows that you want to find a boyfriend. Do you really want him nosing around, trying to find out why you don't have one?" I looked back and forth between the shinigami. Ryuk was nodding in agreement to what Yuma pointed out, and I sighed.

"Alright, first thing tomorrow, I'll ask Ryuzaki to go out with me on a date." I said. Even though I sounded reluctant, the truth of it was, I really liked Ryuzaki, and I didn't mind the thought of going out on a date with him. Well, IF he said yes, anyway.

(Light's PoV)

"Misa, calm down. There's no need to get worked up over this. Even though Sachiko has a death note, we can't go and tell her about ours. She'll most likely figure out that we're Kira and Kira 2. And though I failed to mention this before, she's an L supporter. And with an IQ as high as hers, she'll figure out how to reveal to that to him; even if she doesn't figure out Ryuzaki's identity." I said. Misa frowned at me.

"But Light….we HAVE to do something about this! Suppose she figures it out without us telling her? Light, I know she's your cousin, and she seems like a really nice girl, but we have to-" I refused to let her finish.

"Absolutely not, Misa. We are NOT killing Sachiko." I said bluntly. Misa sighed and thought a moment.

"Hey! Maybe we could use this to our advantage, then. She seems to REALLY like Ryuzaki. And I think he's starting to kind of like her, too. So, why don't we see if they get together, and if he starts to REALLY trust her, we can use her to get at him." She suggested. I shook my head.

"That wouldn't work. Sachiko would rather forfeit her own life than see what she considers "Evil" to get its way. We'll have to think of something else." I said. Misa hugged me.

"Don't worry, Light. You'll figure this out, I know it." She said encouragingly.

(Sachiko's PoV)

Needless to say I was nervous. What if Ryuzaki said no?

"Good morning, Sachiko-chan." I jumped.

"O-oh. Uhm…G-good morning, Ryuzaki-kun." I stammered. He looked at me somewhat worriedly.

"Is…something the matter, Sachiko-chan? You seem a little….anxious." he said. I giggled nervously.

"No-nothing's wrong, Ryuzaki-kun. I was…just…uhm…I wanted to ask you if….if you would….g-go out on a date w-with me….?" It took a couple minutes, but I finally managed to get the question out there.

"Alright." I looked up at Ryuzaki in slight surprise. He sounded so…so CALM about it! I was glad he agreed, but at the same time, it kind of irked me that it was so easy for him to come up with an answer…and so quickly, besides!

"Really?" I asked. Ryuzaki nodded.

"Yes. I'd love to go on a date with you." I smiled.

"Great. How does…right after classes sound? We can go get something to eat, and then we'll…catch a movie?" I suggested. Ryuzaki nodded.

"That sounds fun." He said with a smile. And so, the plans were made, and all that was left to do was anxiously await for the time for our date to arrive.

**(A/N: Okay, this is the last chapter I'm going to post for now, because I was kind of hoping to get a bit of positive corrective feedback where necessary, and a few tips and pointers for the (if needed) edited re-posts of chapters 1-3, as well as for future chapters before continuing. So, anyone who has some helpful tips to prevent me from making this fic "Mary Sue", feel free to put it in a review or a PM for me. Thank you.) Also, if anyone has any ideas for Sachiko's date with Ryuzaki, I'll be happy to hear them out, too. **


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